At least eight luxury homes were destroyed and six damaged as wildfire swept through the star-studded hills of Los Angeles on Monday, forcing celebrities including Le Bron James and thousands of others to flee.
Meanwhile, a blaze in Northern California wine country exploded in size.
The flames that roared up a steep hillside near the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles' Brentwood section illustrated the danger the state faces as high winds batter both ends of California and threaten to turn any spark into a devastating inferno.
A firefighter was seriously injured in the blaze in Sonoma County wine country. Authorities later said he was in stable condition.
Some 2.2 million people lacked electricity after California's biggest utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, cut power over the weekend for fear of its equipment sparking fires during high winds.
The company was driven into bankruptcy after several deadly wildfires were ignited in recent years
More deliberate blackouts are possible in the coming days with another round of strong winds expected.
Californian authorities say they will hold an inquiry into the decision to cut power as a precaution, affecting millions of residents.
The company admitted on Monday that despite the outages, its power lines may have started two smaller fires in the San Francisco Bay Area.
PG&E also said its transmission lines may have been responsible for the Sonoma County fire.
That blaze, which broke out last week amid the vineyards and wineries north of San Francisco, grew to at least 300 square kilometres, destroying 123 buildings including 57 homes, authorities said.
Although about 30,000 people were allowed back home Monday afternoon, about 156,000 people were still under evacuation orders because of the fire, mostly from the city of Santa Rosa. .
With no rain and more wind in the forecast, the coming days could be grim.
"This is when we have the most potential for large and damaging fires," said Thom Porter, chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. "All of California is in play right now."
Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency over the weekend.
Australian Associated Press
